Buffalo Commons, East?

It was in 1987 that Frank and Deborah Popper wrote their Planning magazine article "The Great Plains: From Dust to Dust," putting forth their Buffalo Commons thesis that stimulated an ongoing debate about the future of the Great Plains region. Salon.com magazine reports that a new short film that debuted this year at the Sundance Festival suggests that what's good for the Plains might also be a balm for the wounds of Lower Manhattan. In the 20-minute film, "Live From Shiva's Dancefloor" by Richard Linklater, the character of a Manhattan walking-tour guide "posits that the site should be turned into a park full of free-roaming American bison, popularly known as buffalo. 'Sixteen acres of blazing green grass, a place for togetherness, healing out loud, and spontaneous culture,' says the guide. 'And in the middle of the park, the memorial should not be an inanimate slab of stone, but should have a heartbeat.'"